 Northwoods Vacationland Album |
Promoting Happier Living Through Fond Memories ... Site Map |
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Northwoods Vacationland Album |
Promoting Happier Living Through Fond Memories ... Site Map |
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Musky Lake Store
"We originally came up here in 1956 to look for a resort, but ended up buying two buildings from Clarence and Louise Verkest that would serve the area as Musky Lake Store. For two years, we continued to run the store with my folks, Alma and Otis Maginn, but then my husband went to work for Braniff Airlines in Minneapolis. My parents stayed for another 8 years or so after that, until they sold it to Fred Gable. "We sold groceries, bait, souvenirs and had a meat counter," said Cliff, "and bottomless cups of coffee. We had hamburgers and malts, and would have to keep the place open a little later sometimes because we would feed the counselors from the nearby Big Chief Boys Camp on Grindstone who came in after they had gotten the boys to bed." The couple remembered that they once had to keep a spare tire as collateral when a customer could not come up with a dollar for the gas he had pumped. It was deer season and Evelyn was alone in the store. She took his tire out of the trunk and kept it until he returned with the money. When the Musky Lake Store became the Drifter's Corral, Bev Harris cooked some of the best meals on Wise Boulevard, according to those who frequented the place. The building was last known as Drifter's corral, but has been up for sale in recent months. Heimbach fills in some history: "Bud Shankland took over the Trading Post from Ma and Pa Baer. There was a fire but Shankland rebuilt the store. I remember they had a counter for serving sandwiches and the like and a pinball machine in there. One summer day we were all in there having sodas and playing pinball, and someone announced on the radio that Babe Ruth had just died. When the Baers owned the Musky Lake Store, they had an old pump gas station where you had to pump the gas up from the tank to the tower, which was in a glass globe at the top and showed how many gallons were in it. Later owners were the Neugebauers and the Verkests." Landgraf remembers: "The Boulevard Inn, which later became a nursing home and then a bed and breakfast had an ice house and a butcher shop, a little grocery as well." Heimbach says, "I remember seeing an old-fashioned coffee grinder in there (Boulevard Inn). There was a room upstairs and there was talk of making it into a movie house, but that never went through." The Log Cabin Store, just a little farther east down the road, is the only convenience store in business now. George May was the original builder, although it changed hands a number of times before Don Koser bought the business in March of 2002. Terry and Faith U'ren were long-time owners, following in many of the same traditions of the Putnams and Williamses before them. You could get groceries, gas your car, grab a treat, and be assured of catching up on some of the latest news. When Myron and Jeanette Williams owned it, the store also served as a post office substation.
Special thanks to Courte Oreilles
Lakes Association and |
 
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